AI-powered surveillance company Palantir created a chore coat. Great, now I have no choice but to burn mine | Van Badham

The company’s UK and Europe boss has become a lightning rod for the British public’s fear of a US tech takeover The hall was packed with rightwing radicals when Louis Mosley heralded a coming revolution. Just as Oliver Cromwell – that “crusader for Christ and liberty” – routed King Charles I’s royalists, “a similar revolution is brewing today”, said the UK and Europe boss of Palantir. Globalism’s “twilight” was upon us, he said in a speech dotted with admiring mentions of the podcaster Joe Rogan and “Elon’s Doge”. It was not a typical peroration for a big UK government contractor with more than £600m in deals with the NHS, the Ministry of Defence and police. But Palantir, the world’s most controversial tech company, is no typical contractor. In recent years it has gained firm footholds across Britain’s public sector while appalling critics with its leadership’s rightwing rhetoric and its work for the US and Israeli militaries and Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown. Continue read

The campaigns target over-the-counter operators and local exchanges as new laws expand oversight to custody and brokerage services.

Jimmy Wales remembers a toxic internet even before social media and says AI is ‘not a disaster’ for the free – and freely edited - online encyclopaedia Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Wikipedia’s founder, Jimmy Wales, has branded the Australian social media ban an “unmitigated disaster” and an “embarrassment” that is teaching kids to accept surveillance from tech companies when they go online. The online encyclopaedia that anyone can edit was born in a world before social media, in 2001. But Wales told Guardian Australia that many of the ills of social media existed even in the earlier stages of the internet. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Mayor raises concerns about using public money to support firms who act ‘contrary to London’s values’ Sadiq Khan may oppose Scotland Yard using Palantir’s AI systems to process criminal intelligence because of his “concerns about using public money to support firms who act contrary to London’s values”. The mayor of London’s office made the statement after the Guardian revealed last week that Palantir, which works for Donald Trump’s ICE immigration crackdown and Israel’s military, has held talks with the Metropolitan police over a wide-ranging contract that could run into tens of millions of pounds. Continue reading...

Met says AI software unearthed rule-breaking ranging from work from home violations to suspected corruption The Metropolitan police have launched investigations into hundreds of officers after using an AI tool built by the controversial tech company Palantir to root out rogue cops. The software was deployed by the Met over the course of a week, snooping on staff members using data the force has ready access to, unearthing rule-breaking ranging from work from home violations to suspected corruption and even criminal allegations such as rape. Continue reading...

In this week’s episode of Uncanny Valley, we talk about Tim Cook’s legacy as CEO at Apple and what his long-rumored departure means for the future of one of the world's biggest companies.

A Palantir post citing CEO Alex Karp's book called for mandatory military service and closer ties between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon while criticizing "hollow pluralism" and warning of a new AI arms race. But Palantir is just one of the tech companies blurring the lines between Silicon Valley and Washington – while growing too big too fast for traditional oversight.

The planned outlay comes after the tech giant recently made significant AI investments in Asia.